The Eastern Tribes Return Home 1 UDB Joshua then summoned the leaders of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. BSB BSB: Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
2 UDB He said to them, "You have done everything that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you to do. You have also done what I commanded you to do. BSB BSB: and told them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.
3 UDB For a long time you have helped the other tribes to defeat their enemies. You have obeyed everything that Yahweh your God taught you and commanded you to do. BSB BSB: All this time you have not deserted your brothers, up to this very day, but have kept the charge given you by the LORD your God.
4 UDB He promised to give peace to your fellow Israelites, and he has done what he promised. So now you may go back to your homes, to the land that Moses gave to you on the east side of the Jordan River. BSB BSB: And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.
5 UDB Moses also commanded you to love Yahweh your God and to live your life as he wants you to live. He told you to obey his commands, to trust in him, and to turn away from all others. Do this as you worship him and serve him by everything that you think and everything that you do." BSB BSB: But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
6 UDB Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, so they went back to their tents. BSB BSB: So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.
7 UDB Moses had given the region of Bashan, to the east of the Jordan River, to one-half of the tribe of Manasseh, and Joshua had given land on the west side of the Jordan River to the other half of that tribe. When Joshua sent them away to their tents, he asked God to bless them. BSB BSB: (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them,
8 UDB He said to them, "Go back to your tents with much money and with many animals and with silver, gold, bronze, and iron and with many beautiful clothes. But you should share the plunder from your enemies with your brothers and sisters." BSB BSB: saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
The Altar of Witness 9 UDB So the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh left the other people of Israel at Shiloh in the region of Canaan. They returned home to the region of Gilead, which belonged to them because Moses had assigned it to them by Yahweh's command. BSB BSB: So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.
10 UDB They arrived at the western bank of the Jordan River in the land of Canaan. There the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar—a very large and impressive altar. BSB BSB: And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.
11 UDB The other people of Israel heard about this altar; they were concerned about what the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh had built. It was an altar at the entrance to the land of Canaan. It was built at the city of Geliloth, near the Jordan, on the side that was part of the land of Israel. BSB BSB: Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”
12 UDB The people of Israel heard of this, and the whole assembly of the people came together at Shiloh. They decided to go to war against them because of this altar. BSB BSB: And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.
13 UDB But first, the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leader of all the priests to talk with the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. BSB BSB: The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
14 UDB They also sent one leader from each of the ten tribes of Israel west of the Jordan River. Each of the leaders was an important leader in his own clan. BSB BSB: With him they sent ten chiefs—one family leader from each tribe of Israel, each the head of a family among the clans of Israel.
15 UDB Those leaders went to the region of Gilead to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, BSB BSB: They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them,
16 UDB "All the other Israelites are asking, 'What is this you have done? You have disobeyed the commands of God. You have turned against Yahweh by building your own altar here in this place. You rebelled against Yahweh. BSB BSB: “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
17 UDB Have you forgotten about how Yahweh punished us at Peor, when we stopped worshiping him and began to worship other gods? Yahweh sent a deadly sickness among the people of Israel, and many died from it. BSB BSB: Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.
18 UDB Maybe you have built this altar because you have stopped worshiping Yahweh. If this is true, you have rebelled like this against him, and he will be angry with all the people of Israel.' BSB BSB: And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 UDB "If you think that Yahweh considers your land here is not suitable for worshiping him, come back to our land where Yahweh's sacred tent is. We can share our land with you. But do not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building another altar for Yahweh our God. BSB BSB: If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
20 UDB Surely you remember what happened when Zerah's son Achan refused to obey Yahweh's command to destroy everything in Jericho? That one man disobeyed God's command, but many other Israelites were punished for what he did." BSB BSB: Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”
21 UDB The leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh replied, BSB BSB: Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel:
22 UDB "Yahweh, the almighty God, knows why we did that, and we want you to know, too. If we have not been faithful to our promise to serve Yahweh, do not have any mercy on us, but take our lives. BSB BSB: “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.
23 UDB If we have built this altar so we can stop obeying Yahweh, or if we have built this altar to offer burned sacrifices, grain offerings, or sacrifices to promise friendship with him, in violation of the law, may Yahweh punish us and even take our lives. BSB BSB: If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice peace offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable.
24 UDB No, we built this altar because we were afraid that your children might speak to our children one day in the future and ask, 'What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?" BSB BSB: But in fact we have done this for fear that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?
25 UDB We are afraid that they will say to our children, "Yahweh made the Jordan River to be a boundary between us and you people of Reuben and you people of Gad. You have nothing to do with Yahweh.' And your children might try to stop our children from worshiping Yahweh. BSB BSB: For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.
26 UDB So we said, 'Let us now build an altar, but not for bringing sacrifices nor for any offerings. BSB BSB: That is why we said, ‘Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.
27 UDB Instead, we want it to be a monument to prove to you, to ourselves, and to all of our descendants after us that we truly worship Yahweh. We indeed worship him by our burned sacrifices and our offerings and our sacrifices to promise friendship with him. We built this altar so your descendants may never say to our descendants in the future, "Yahweh never gave you any portion of this land; you do not belong here."' BSB BSB: Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’
28 UDB In the future, if your descendants say that, our descendants can say, 'Look at the altar that our ancestors made! It is exactly like Yahweh's altar at Shiloh, but we do not burn sacrifices on it. It is a monument which means that we and you together worship Yahweh!' BSB BSB: Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’
29 UDB We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or stop doing what he desires. This altar was never intended to be used for the burned sacrifices, for burning flour offerings, or for making other sacrifices. We know that there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God and that it is in front of the sacred tent." BSB BSB: Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.”
30 UDB When Phinehas the priest and the other ten leaders of the people of Israel heard what the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh said, they were pleased. BSB BSB: When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.
31 UDB So Phinehas said to them, "Now we know that Yahweh is with all of us Israelites and that you were not rebelling against him when you built that altar. Because what you did did not break Yahweh's laws, we are sure that he will not punish us. BSB BSB: Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”
32 UDB Then Phinehas and the Israelite leaders left the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad in the region of Gilead and returned to Canaan. There they told the other Israelites what had happened. BSB BSB: Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead.
33 UDB They were pleased, and they thanked God. They did not talk anymore about fighting against the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and destroying everything in their land. BSB BSB: The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.
34 UDB The people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad named their new altar "Reminder," and they said, "It is a reminder to us all that Yahweh is God." BSB BSB: So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.